Chapters 1-8 Summary

Schuyler Van Alen, a fifteen-year-old Blue Blood vampire, is the last member of the New York Van Alen family, which had helped to create modern-day Manhattan. Schuyler is in Venice, Italy with her best friend Oliver Hazard-Perry. Oliver is also Schuyler's human caretaker, known as a Conduit, and has convinced his father to let them accompany him on a business trip to Europe. Two months before, Schuyler's grandmother, Cordelia, is attacked and killed by Silver Blood vampires, the enemies of the Blue Bloods. Whereas the Bluebloods are fallen angels who live by a set of ethics, Silver Bloods swear allegiance to Lucifer. The key to defeating them, Schuyler believes, rests with her missing grandfather, Lawrence, who is in Venice. Schuyler's mother, Allegra, is in a forced coma, wanting to remain that way after Schutyler's father dies.